


I know you don't know that I know, but I know

by fuzzybooks



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Matchmaker!Scott, Mention of Child Abuse, Slight homophobic language, mention of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-11
Updated: 2012-10-11
Packaged: 2017-11-16 02:52:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/534676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzybooks/pseuds/fuzzybooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles has a crush on Isaac. On the way there are misunderstandings and overheard conversations. Scott attempts to set things right (up).</p>
            </blockquote>





	I know you don't know that I know, but I know

Stiles had a crush on Isaac.  
Scott had seen how his friend went out of his way to make things easier for Isaac, in small, subtle ways. Subtle enough that Isaac didn’t seem to notice, Isaac who made a point of making himself as small and unnoticeable as possible.

  
It was the little things really, making sure people didn’t bump into Isaac, making a point to always fall behind a little before lunch, even if it meant getting a worse deal out of the food, just so Isaac didn’t have to.  
At first Scott thought it had to do with Lydia, given the amount Stiles talked about her, but he noticed that for as much as he mentioned Lydia, his eyes always rested on Isaac Lahey.

He tried to remember when it started, and remembered a conversation when they were little, they must have been around ten years old, at Scott’s house when his mom asked if there was a cute girl he wanted to take to the school dance and his dad had chimed in that he better not be taking any boys, no son of his was going to be a fairy. He remembered how his dad had started on a rant while his mom had gone to work, not there to interrupt him like usual and thought about how Stiles face had fallen and then closed off.

He hadn’t given it much thought then, neither he nor Stiles had ever really liked it when his dad went on his tangents, but he realised that this was around the same time as Stiles started talking about Lydia.

He’s not really sure if there was a crush on Isaac then or if that’s just when Stiles felt the need to make it clear that he wasn’t a ‘fairy’ or any of the other things Scott’s dad had thrown around. They had divorced not long after, but words sink in and fester, letting go of that would not have been easy.  
Scott wasn’t sure when his friend had started having a crush on Isaac, but in the end, that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that Stiles was still trailing after Lydia like a lost puppy and not getting to know Isaac. So he makes a plan.

* * *

  
Scott’s been acting weird, Stiles thinks as he sits on their shared bench. Weirder than normal. Instead of taking his normal seat at lacrosse practice, he sat next to Greenburg, which left Stiles sitting next to Isaac Lahey. Isaac who he really longed to see smile, who he wished he could just get up the courage to talk to, to befriend, but Stiles knew that it was a pipedream. Besides Scott, nobody stuck around.

He talked too much, he got distracted, went on tangents.  He was weird, spastic and geeky. The sheriff’s kid with a dead mom. The best he could hope for was being that funny guy that nobody really minded, he didn’t want to get his hopes up after all, it would just be worse when the actual rejection came and no, it was better to just stay as a distant observer. 

 

 

Except it really wasn’t because Stiles was pretty sure that Isaac was having problems at home. He didn’t often play lacrosse because of injuries, injuries that were too severe and too common to be just bullies and this was Beacon Hills, if someone was getting their ass kicked that often, there would be gossip. Except there was no gossip and to the majority of the school it was like Isaac didn’t even exist, and that seemed like the way he wanted it.

When he was younger he overheard his dad talk about this boy whose dad they suspected hit him, well, the neighbour suspected. The neighbour had called child welfare and reported it, but he had no proof. They went and investigated and found nothing. Three weeks later the boy had committed suicide.

Stiles wasn’t supposed to hear about this of course, but his dad went on to say that when they don’t have proof, they can't take any action. They can't save the people they need to save sometimes, and in some cases, by trying, the police could even make it worse for them.  
He couldn’t try to help someone if that was just going to harm them more.  
As it was, he was sitting on the bench trying not to notice how close Isaac was, it wasn’t closer than anyone on the bench ever was, it wasn’t a very big bench after all. When practice started in earnest he didn’t have time to worry about it anymore.  
Time went by and Scott kept shooting him disappointed looks, but Stiles really had no idea what he’d done. Or said, probably said. He didn’t really have time to figure it out either since he kept bumping into Isaac no matter how hard he tried to keep his distance.

“Stiles?” They were standing by their lockers, complaining about Professor Harris, when Scott turned contemplative. “Why don’t you just ask him out?”

“What? Who? Ask who out? Might I remind you that Lydia is not a he, and I have asked her out. Several times. She keeps ignoring me.” Stiles was sputtering, like he usually did when caught in a lie, but Scott couldn’t help but feel disappointed that his best friend didn’t trust him enough to be honest with him.

“Isaac Lahey? Tall, good-looking, is on the lacrosse team with us?” They picked up their stuff and headed towards english.

“What? Why would I ask Isaac Lahey to go on a date? I mean, what? No, that’s... you think he’s good-looking?”

 

* * *

 

“Why would I ask Isaac Lahey to go on a date?” Stiles voice kept coming back to him, no matter how hard he tried to ignore the pain that resulted from that sentence. Because it was true, wasn’t it? Who would want to go on a date with him.

He had never really noticed Stiles before, not as more than the boy who turns everything into a joke, but since then he watched. He noticed how many of his attempts at humor deflected any kind of personal talk, how his crush on Lydia was over the top, how it acted like a shield. How every time anyone mentioned cancer he got this sad, lonely look in his eye.

How was it that this boy, who was practically at the bottom of the foodchain didn’t even think Isaac was worth even the consideration of a date?  
When Derek Hale came along and promised that he would be stronger, and better, that he wouldn’t have to be weak anymore, there was never any hesitation. And besides the obvious benefits, maybe Stiles would finally notice him now.

* * *

 

 It was nearing the end of the school year when Scott remembered his plan to push Isaac and Stiles together and wasn’t as sure about it anymore. Isaac had came back though, and helped fight Gerard and the Kanima, he just wasn’t sure Stiles was interested anymore. He thought the first thing to do was have the two of them spend time together and see where things went from there.

“Hey Scott! Did you bring the... “ Stiles trailed off, taking in the sight of a completely drenched Isaac, his t-shirt clinging to his chest. “Doritos, did you bring the doritos? I see you brought Isaac, hey Isaac, what-”

“Stiles? Can we come in? It’s raining kind of hard out here.” Stiles moved to let them pass into the house, “I still have some spare clothes in your room, right?” Scott asked and ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

“I’m sorry about this, Scott said he’d talked to you? I mean, it’s fine if you don’t want me to be here, it’s you and Scott’s game night.” Isaac was slouching, and for all his new found confidence, looked like he was worried that Stiles was just going to throw him out. He’d been staying at Scott’s house, he’d been told, but so far they hadn’t crossed paths since the whole Gerard situation.

“No, it’s fine, totally fine. Infact, you’re soaking, maybe you should get some dry clothes on? Can werewolves get pneumonia? Better not risk it. Then you can prepare to get your ass kicked, we’re playing Call of Duty.” Just then Scott came down the stairs in new clothes, and threw a set of dry clothes to Isaac.

“They might not fit, but they’re dry, I hung my clothes in the bathroom, it’s the first door to the left up the stairs.”  
While Isaac went upstairs Stiles turned to Scott and hissed, “What are you doing? Did you just give him my favorite pair of sweats?” Scott shrugged and poured the doritos into a plastic bowl.

“Didn’t think any of your other clothes would fit. Besides you’re not wearing them right now are you?”  He went to put the bowl on the coffee table in the living room and said “Hey, so you never answered. Do you think Isaac is good-looking?” He didn’t turn around to see Stiles’ reaction, just went and got the xbox ready for them.

“Uh, well. I guess? I mean. If you like them tall and lean with curly golden hair and eyes blue enough to drown in, then yes, sure. Definitely good-looking. A very attractive guy. Not that I am, that is. Attracted to Isaac. I mean, objectively speaking, he is aesthetically appealing.”

* * *

 Isaac wasn’t sure what he was hearing. Attractive? Him? He could hear Stiles’ heart stutter when he said he wasn’t attracted to Isaac, he was lying. By the time Isaac had come to terms this and made his way downstairs Scott had received a message from Allison and was looking at Stiles with what could really only be described as puppy eyes, as much as Isaac tried to shy away from the dog comparisons.

“Fine,” Stiles said “go, be with her, but we will have this guys night of games and lame movies eventually!” By the time Stiles was finished Scott was already halfway through the door. Stiles turned to look at Isaac and said,

“So, I guess it’s just you and me for games night, if that’s ok. Or we could just watch movies, whatever.” The TV was blinking on the xbox pause screen, and the only noise came from the rain spattering against the windows. Isaac shrugged, being alone with Stiles after overhearing that conversation was a little nerve wracking, he wanted Stiles to clarify, but what if he was wrong? What if ‘good-looks’ was the only thing Stiles thought Isaac had going for him. He hadn’t missed the way people looked at him after he had taken the bite, he just didn’t think he wanted Stiles to be one of them, he didn’t want to think that Stiles was that shallow and after all that Isaac and the pack had done during the past few months, he could understand if Stiles didn’t return his affections.

“You, uh. Think I’m attractive?” Isaac shuffled and looked down at his feet. Stiles’ eyes widened in surprise.

“Right. You heard that then? Well, believe it or not, us humans aren’t just here to stroke your ego.” Stiles huffed, and clearly tried to deflect.  
Isaac groaned, this wasn’t how he wanted this to go

“No, Stiles, that’s not how I meant.” He ran his hand through his hair. “ I just.. you’re clever and brave and witty and why are you staring at me like that?”  
Stiles’ mouth had dropped open,

“Me? Dude! I’m not brave, ok! I haven’t been through half the shit you have, and you just keep going. I can’t even imagine going through all that and still being a good person, sure, there was the that powertrip douchebaggery after the bite and wolfiness but man.”That’s when Stiles seemed to realise that he was still talking, and for once about subjects other than werewolves and deeper than lacrosse.

“Please, after everything you’ve done for Scott? Even though you were human, even though you could and did get hurt? And I’m not brave, I just did what I had to.” Isaac hung his head, but Stiles wasn’t having any of that.

“You were brave! You are brave!” He punctuates each sentence with his hands for emphasis. “You faced your fears every single day and maybe lycanthropy wasn’t the best way of going about it, but when you found a way to get out, you got away. So, yeah, ok, I do think you’re attractive, but I thought so before you became all werewolf hot stuff, because you’re a beautiful person and please save me from the sap but it’s the truth man.” When Stiles finally came to an end, he sighed and gestured for them to sit on the couch. Isaac followed, struck silent.

“But you said you wouldn’t date me. Just a few months ago.” Stiles turned to look at him, eyebrows drawn together and head cocked to the side.

“You’ve never asked... Scott! You heard me talking to Scott? Oh my god. Did he set this up?” Stiles gaped, incredulous. Isaac blinked at him.

“I think he did. Do you mind?”

“No, actually, I don’t think I do.”

Stiles had a crush on Isaac. In the end that was fine, because Isaac had a crush on Stiles as well.

**Author's Note:**

> I really want to thank Cheylock for all the help and support. You are amazing!  
> As usual, feel free to point out any errors so I can correct them.


End file.
